Old Estévez School

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Civil architecture · Year: 1933

Located in the northern area of the urban centre of San Andrés, we find the old Estévez school, the first public teaching establishment to provide continuous and guaranteed education in the town. 

The building appears to have been completed by 1933. We believe that due to its typology and function it may have been conceived at the end of the 1920s, coming into operation during the Second Republic, as happened with its contemporaries in the neighbourhoods of El Cabo (Isabel La Católica school), Duggi (San Fernando) and Salamanca. In any case, this school helped to alleviate a huge gap in education in San Andrés, a place which at that time had an illiteracy rate close to 60%.

The construction has an irregular floor plan surrounded by small open spaces. Its formal references fall within the eclectic style, highlighting the entire ensemble the recessed central body of two floors, topped by a clock and a curved pediment. For quite some time this building was the tallest in the area and, moreover, marked the passage of time with its chimes.  

In 1965 a new school group was created in San Andrés and the old school began to lose prominence. Currently the building houses a cultural centre dedicated to crafts and pottery, a long-standing activity in the area.

As for the name of the school, "Estévez", it seems to come from the owner of the land where the building was constructed, Francisco Estévez González.

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